Chocolate Skeleton Cookies

Continuing with the week before Halloween celebration, I made these chocolate skeleton cookies. I first saw them about 4 years ago in a Taste of Home magazine and I’ve been meaning to make them ever since. It’s a bit of a morbid twist on the classic gingerbread man, but it’s a perfectly appropriate way to help celebrate All Hallows’ Eve.

The dough itself requires some chilling time, so it’s best to plan ahead if you want to make these. Other than that, though, it’s a very straight forward recipe with simple piping to outline the anatomically incorrect skeleton. I thought it would be cute to pipe faces on these cookies as well, but I didn’t have a chance to do so. I guess there’s always next year… 🙂

Cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of the electric mixer. Beat in the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, and soda. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Pat into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or overnight.

Remove the dough from the fridge and roll into 1/8 think slap on a lightly floured surface. Cut with a 3 inch gingerbread cookie cutter. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until set. Cool for one minute and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing, whisk together the confectioners sugar and milk in a small bowl until smooth. Cut a small hole in the corner of a resealable bag or use a pastry bag with a small round tip. Fill the bag with icing and pipe skeleton bones on the cookies. If the icing spreads too much, add more powdered sugar until you achieve the desired consistency. On the flip side, if the icing is too thick, add a few drops of milk to thin it out.